Handling of Antenna line Devices in High Layer Split Architecture

Abstract

A centralized unit of a communication network adopting a high layer split architecture acquires an abstractive model of a plurality of antenna line devices from a distributed unit of the communication network. The centralized unit operates the plurality of antenna line devices by communicating with the distributed unit by using the abstractive model. The distributed unit can perform elementary control of the plurality of antenna line devices based on the communication with the centralized unit.

1 . A centralized unit for use in a communication network which adopts a high layer split architecture, the centralized unit using at least one processor and at least one non-transitory memory including computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the centralized unit at least to perform:
 acquiring an abstractive model of a plurality of antenna line devices from a distributed unit of the communication network, wherein the distributed unit performs elementary control of the plurality of antenna line devices; and   operating the plurality of antenna line devices by communicating with the distributed unit by using the abstractive model.   
     
     
         2 . The centralized unit of  claim 1 , the operating comprising at least one of:
 requesting for changes in parameters of at least one of the plurality of antenna line devices; or   requesting operations to be performed by at least one of the plurality of antenna line devices.   
     
     
         3 . The centralized unit of  claim 1 , wherein the abstractive model comprises at least one of the following:
 modules according to network configuration protocols,   modules according to yet another next generation protocol, or   a model comprising at least one of:
 a set of proprietary parameters of each of the plurality of antenna line devices, 
 operation calls and notifications to propagate information about at least one of the plurality of antenna line devices to the centralized unit. 
   
     
     
         4 . The centralized unit of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the centralized unit to further perform:
 performing an operation to enable high-level data link control between the distributed unit and the plurality of antenna line devices.   
     
     
         5 . The centralized unit of  claim 4 , the performing comprising:
 transmitting an action trigger to the plurality of antenna line devices.   
     
     
         6 . The centralized unit of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the centralized unit to further perform:
 acquiring, from the distributed unit, notifications about connected antenna line devices of the plurality of antenna line devices, which comply with high-level data link control; and   requesting the distributed unit to assign high-level data link control addresses to the connected antenna line devices which comply with high-level data link control.   
     
     
         7 . The centralized unit of  claim 6 , wherein the requesting is based on unique identifiers each formed of at least two parts, and each identifying a connected antenna line device of the connected antenna line devices. 
     
     
         8 . The centralized unit of  claim 6 , the operating the plurality of antenna line devices by communicating with the distributed unit by using the abstractive model comprising:
 using the unique identifiers.   
     
     
         9 . The centralized unit of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the centralized unit to further perform:
 indicating to the distributed unit a type of content in a specific file being handled with a software management procedure for configuration file management of the plurality of antenna line devices.   
     
     
         10 . The centralized unit of  claim 1 , wherein the centralized unit comprises at least one of a high layer split centralized unit or a network management system. 
     
     
         11 . A distributed unit for use in a communication network which adopts a high layer split architecture, the distributed unit using at least one processor and at least one non-transitory memory including computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the distributed unit at least to perform:
 providing an abstractive model of a plurality of antenna line devices to a centralized unit of the communication network;   performing communication with the centralized unit by using the abstractive model regarding operation of the plurality of antenna line devices; and   performing elementary control of the plurality of antenna line devices.   
     
     
         12 . The distributed unit of  claim 11 , the performing elementary control comprising:
 performing the elementary control of the plurality of antenna line devices based on the communication with the centralized unit.   
     
     
         13 . The distributed unit of  claim 11 , wherein the elementary control comprises a set of elementary procedures and functions related to protocol layer termination according to at least one of:
 high-level data link control, or   antenna interface standards group.   
     
     
         14 . The distributed unit of  claim 11 , the performing of the elementary control comprising at least one of the following:
 scanning connected antenna line devices of the plurality of antenna line devices, which comply with high-level data link control;   detecting antenna line devices of the plurality of antenna line devices, which comply with high-level data link control device detection;   assigning high-level data link control addresses to connected antenna line devices which comply with high-level data link control;   polling towards antenna line devices of the plurality of antenna line devices, which have been assigned high-level data link control addresses; or   communicating with antenna line devices of the plurality of antenna line devices, which have been assigned high-level data link control addresses, with respect to at least one of timing constraints, alarm reporting or configuration of the antenna line devices.   
     
     
         15 . The distributed unit of  claim 11 , wherein, when performing the elementary control, the distributed unit represents a primary device and the plurality of antenna line devices represent secondary devices. 
     
     
         16 . The distributed unit of  claim 11 , wherein the abstractive model comprises at least one of the following:
 modules according to network configuration protocols,   modules according to yet another next generation protocol, or   a model comprising at least one of:
 a set of proprietary parameters of each of the plurality of antenna line devices, 
 operation calls or 
 notifications to propagate information about at least one of the plurality of antenna line devices to the centralized unit. 
   
     
     
         17 . The distributed unit of  claim 11 , wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the distributed unit to further perform:
 providing the centralized unit with notifications about connected antenna line devices of the plurality of antenna line devices, which comply with high-level data link control.   
     
     
         18 . The distributed unit of  claim 17 , wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the distributed unit to further perform:
 receiving, from the centralized unit, a request to assign a high-level data link control address to a connected antenna line device of the connected antenna line devices, the request comprising a unique identifier identifying the connected antenna line device.   
     
     
         19 . The distributed unit of  claim 11 , wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the distributed unit to further perform:
 acquiring, from the centralized unit, a type of content in a specific file being handled with a software management procedure for configuration file management of the plurality of antenna line devices.   
     
     
         20 . The distributed unit of  claim 11 , wherein the distributed unit comprises at least one of a high layer split distributed unit or a high layer split middle unit. 
     
     
         21 . The distributed unit of  claim 11 , the performing of the elementary control comprising:
 performing the elementary control of the plurality of antenna line devices via at least one radio unit.   
     
     
         22 . A method for use by a centralized unit of a communication network which adopts a high layer split architecture, the method comprising:
 acquiring an abstractive model of a plurality of antenna line devices from a distributed unit of the communication network, wherein the distributed unit performs elementary control of the plurality of antenna line devices; and   operating the plurality of antenna line devices by communicating with the distributed unit by using the abstractive model.   
     
     
         23 - 29 . (canceled) 
     
     
         30 . A method for use by a distributed unit of a communication network which adopts a high layer split architecture, the method comprising:
 providing an abstractive model of a plurality of antenna line devices to a centralized unit of the communication network;   performing communication with the centralized unit by using the abstractive model regarding operation of the plurality of antenna line devices; and   performing elementary control of the plurality of antenna line devices.   
     
     
         31 - 39 . (canceled) 
     
     
         40 . A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a program that causes a computer to execute the method of  claim 22 , when the program is run on the computer. 
     
     
         41 . A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a program that causes a computer to execute the method of  claim 30 , when the program is run on the computer.